Climax-Scotts' Alex Lodes named MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette boys track athlete of the year

Climax-Scotts's Alex Lodes, left, beats New Lothrop's Amari Coleman in the 100 meter dash during the Michigan Div. 4 high school track finals on June 1. (Mark Copier | MLive.com)

Alex Lodes

CLIMAX, MI – Dave Lodes said it was tricky at times to separate the role of father from coach with his son Alex Lodes.

The two seemed to have little trouble staying on the same page as Alex Lodes left the Climax-Scotts track and field program with five school records and multiple state championships.

His school records include the 100 meter dash, 200 dash, both sprint relays and the long jump.

The Grand Valley State University bound track athlete set all but the long jump records during his senior season, when he also defended his state title in the 100 and helped the 400 relay team bring home the gold en route to being named the MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette boys track and field athlete of the year.

Alex finished third in the 200 at the state meet on June 1 after winning it his junior season.

"In some ways I accomplished more than I wanted to and other ways I didn't," Alex Lodes said. "I was hoping to win both the 100 and 200 at state. I ended up just winning the 100. I didn't expect our relay team to win this year, so that was a big surprise. I was always running alone because at my school not too many people are serious about track. We found a few people who were serious about it and we won the whole thing."

Dave Lodes said he was proud of his son's commitment to the relay teams.

"He had a good year," Dave said. "I think what I enjoyed the most was how he became a better teammate. He ran relays and really put so much effort into them that maybe his times suffered a little bit. Sometimes he would get behind, but he usually pulled it out."

Alex said he enjoyed working with his dad because it allowed him more time to review film and work on technique at home and on the weekends.

Dave said he caught a little grief at home about a tough-love approach.

"My wife criticized me because I didn't say enough about him at the banquet," Dave said with a laugh. "Maybe I thought it was a conflict of interest or something. It was pretty easy for me (balancing the coach and father roles) because we do things on our own, like the extra things."

Editor's note: See Sunday's print edition for the complete MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette Player of the Year package